After releasing three singles, SoCal-based indie-garage band Willowake has released their debut EP, An Alter Ego. Their previous songs (“Bitterfaced”, “Playground”, and “I See Ghosts”, respectively) showed great promise in the band’s talents as musicians, making me eager to listen to their new release. While An Alter Ego mainly operates in the same direction that Willowake had been going in, it provides enough opportunities to show the range of each member and what they’re capable of. For a band that’s still discovering themselves, the EP is a strong, impressively performed set of songs that suggests exciting things to come from Willowake.
This is the band’s first release after signing with Wiretap Records, and the more professional studio production shows immediately, with each song sounding crisp and clear. Most tracks follow a similar formula to the band’s initial singles: fast-paced, tightly performed garage punk with a killer rhythm section and confident performances. Each member of the band (composed of JR Polanco on vocals/guitar, Gavin Alvarado on bass, and Dax Corcoran on drums) gets an individual moment to show off their musical chops and all of them are great. Alvarado’s bass is usually in the background as texture and atmosphere, but when it’s pushed into the foreground to rumble during “Dog”, it gives the song a darker and suspenseful tone. Corcoran’s drumming is consistently a pulsating highlight, with my favorite parts being the jittery hi-hats on closer “Tim Burton”. Polcano’s guitar playing is always lively and energized, and they’ve grown more self-assured as a vocalist since their debut single.
The one song to really break at all from the band’s established formula is “Not Romantic”, a more mid-tempo, downbeat song about relationship drama. It allows for a melodic sound with nice vocal harmonies and more space to breathe in the audio mix. It’s a type of song I hope the band tries more of in the future, as engaging as their louder punk songs are. Still, considering the strength of An Alter Ego, Willowake is a band I’ll be keeping an eye on.
